College Football First Look: Army vs. Navy

Navy meets Army on Saturday in Philadelphia. Here is a first look at the Black Knights-Mids matchup.

Navy Season so far

DATE

OPPONENT

SCORE

Sept. 1

at Hawaii

L 59-41

Sept. 8

Memphis

W 22-21

Sept. 15

Lehigh

W 51-21

Sept. 22

at SMU

L 31-30 (OT)

Oct. 6

at Air Force

L 35-7

Oct. 13

Temple

L 24-17

Oct. 20

Houston

L 49-36

Oct. 27

Notre Dame [San Diego]

L 44-22

Nov. 3

at Cincinnati

L 42-0

Nov. 10

at UCF

L 35-24

Nov. 17

Tulsa

W 37-29

Nov. 24

at Tulane

L 29-28

Army Season so far

DATE

OPPONENT

SCORE

Aug. 31

at Duke

L 34-14

Sept. 8

Liberty

W 38-14

Sept. 15

Hawaii

W 28-21

Sept. 22

at Oklahoma

L 28-21 (OT)

Sept. 29

at Buffalo

W 42-13

Oct. 13

at San José State [Santa Clara]

W 52-3

Oct. 20

Miami (Ohio)

W 31-30 (OT)

Oct. 27

at Eastern Michigan

W 37-22

Nov. 3

Air Force

W 17-14

Nov. 10

Lafayette

W 31-13

Nov. 17

Colgate

W 28-14

Stat Comparison

NAVY OFFENSE

STAT

ARMY DEFENSE

26.2

Points/Game

18.7

222

First Downs

170

288.5

Rushing Yards/Game

106.5

5.0

Yards/Rushing Atempt

4.2

36

Rushing Touchdowns

10

72.2

Passing Yards/Game

194.8

7.7

Yards/Pass

7.7

17.7

Yards/Completon

12.8

3

Interceptons

3

5

Passing Touchdowns

16

360.7

Total Ofense/Game

301.3

5.4

Total Ofense/Play

5.9

34:01

Time of Possession/Game

20:45

67-171

(39%)3rd-Down Conversions

28-103 (27%)

20-33

(61%) 4th-Down Conversions

11-24 (46%)

0.8

Sacks/Game

1.3

35-36 (97%)

Red-Zone Scores

20-25 (80%)

28-36 (78%)

Red-Zone Touchdowns

17-25 (68%)

Source: U.S. Military Academy

ARMY OFFENSE

STAT

NAVY DEFENSE

30.8

Points/Game

34.9

245

First Downs

258

303.0

Rushing Yards/Game

189.0

4.7

Yards/Rushing Atempt

5.2

37

Rushing Touchdowns

31

81.4

Passing Yards/Game

249.3

10.5

Yards/Pass

8.5

20.3

Yards/Completon

12.4

3

Interceptons

9

6

Passing Touchdowns

24

384.4

Total Ofense/Game

438.3

5.3

Total Ofense/Play

6.6

39:15

Time of Possession/Game

25:59

100-175(56%)

3rd-Down Conversions

69-145 (48%)

30-33(91%)

4th-Down Conversions

20-26 (77%)

0.2

Sacks/Game

1.8

40-45 (89%)

Red-Zone Scores

39-48 (81%)

32-45 (71%)

Red-Zone Touchdowns

35-48 (73%)

Source: U.S. Military Academy

Navy Injuries and Suspensions

DATE

POSITION

NAME

ISSUE

STATUS

10/01/18

LB

Travis Kerchner

Knee

is out for season

Army Injuries and Suspensions

DATE

POSITION

NAME

ISSUE

STATUS

12/02/18

RB

Kell Walker

Undisclosed

is "?" Saturday vs Navy

10/17/18

RB

Fred Cooper Jr.

Suspension

is out indefinitely

Source: DonBest.com

Challenges for Navy

The tables have been turned on Navy the past couple seasons. The bad luck and horrendous football that haunted the Black and Gold of Army is now wearing Navy and Gold and residing in Annapolis. The Mids’ mission is to keep this rough stretch as short as possible. Army endured it for over a decade. Navy can end it on Saturday afternoon if they pull things together and play something called team ball.

Challenges for Army

Army is finally going to run into a team, other than Air Force, that knows how to defend the option well. Navy runs the same stuff as the Cadets so they know how to stop it. The Mids have suffered through a wretched season and would like nothing more than to knock off the Black and finish the season on a high note.